Artist's 14ft crucifix stolen

AN artist built a 14ft replica crucifix as a prop for his `masterpiece' painting - only for it to be stolen from outside his studio. Louis Smith was painstaking in his efforts to picture the death of St Peter on the cross. He built a huge wooden cross at his studio in Hulme, using the same methods employed by Roman carpenters . . . and tracked down a model willing to pose naked and upside down.

AN artist built a 14ft replica crucifix as a prop for his `masterpiece' painting - only for it to be stolen from outside his studio.

Louis Smith was painstaking in his efforts to picture the death of St Peter on the cross. He built a huge wooden cross at his studio in Hulme, using the same methods employed by Roman carpenters . . . and tracked down a model willing to pose naked and upside down.

His striking work, The Crucifixion of St Peter, is now in line for a £25,000 prize.

But the 40-year-old artist had been hoping to sell the huge cross itself to help pay his electricity bill.

The cross had been chained to a railing outside Louis' workroom in Ellesmere Street. Police are now scanning CCTV footage for clues about who took the prop, which is so heavy it could only be moved by two or more men.

Louis said: "The crucifix is 14ft high and 8ft wide and built from solid beams of wood, held together with wooden dowels.

"I thought somebody might buy it for salvage or novelty value.

"I made it in the traditional way, because I wanted the picture to look authentic. It was so heavy I needed to get winches to hoist it up.

"I set up the studio after coming back from Italy last year.

"I have done a few portraits, which have supported my other work, but this was my first big piece. Money is a bit tight, so learning I was shortlisted for the national Threadneedle Prize was a huge boost."

Louis attended art college after leaving school, but did not like abstract work, so he worked for a number of years as a set designer in London, saving up enough cash to study classical painting in Florence.

He spent three years learning centuries-old techniques and scrutinising work by DaVinci and Botticelli.

Louis, who is heavily influenced by the 16th-century master Caravaggio, went to great lengths to depict the death of St Peter on an 8 x 5ft canvas, using his set-building skills to build the cross.

He also had to convince a model to pose upside down for long periods of time. Although Jesus is traditionally depicted upright on the cross, Roman authorities executed many victims by hanging them upside down.